How to Open Password Protected Excel File in Google Sheets

Looking for ways to open a password protected Excel file in Google Sheets? Then, this is the right place for you. You can open and remove passwords from a protected Excel file in many ways. Using Google Sheets is one of the easiest methods among them. Here, you will find a step-by-step way to open a password protected Excel file in Google Sheets and further download that and edit the dataset.

How to Protect Excel File

Here, we have a dataset containing the Student ID, Name and Marks of some students in an Excel worksheet. If you want, you can protect this workbook using a password so that no one can change or use this dataset. To do that, follow the steps given below.

Steps:

Firstly, go to the Review tab >> click on Protect >> select Protect Sheet.

Now, the Protect Sheet box will open.
Then, insert a password of your choice in the box. Here, we will set 12345 as the password.
After that, you can allow some actions of your choice by checking the corresponding boxes.
Lastly, click on OK.

Next, a box will appear to confirm the password.
Then, reenter the password that you have set before.
Finally, click on OK.

Now, if you try to edit any value in the dataset Microsoft Excel will show an error like the image given below.
Thus, you can protect an Excel Worksheet.

Next, to protect the workbook, go to the Review tab >> click on Protect >> select Protect Workbook.

After that, insert a password of your choice in the box. Here, we will again set 12345 as the password.
Then, click on OK.

Again, a box will appear to confirm the password.
Now, reenter the password that you have set before.
Finally, click on OK.

Next, if you reopen the file, you will notice that different edit options have been locked.

Open Password Protected Excel File in Google Sheets: Step-by-Step Procedure

Now, we will show you how you can open this Excel file in Google Sheets and then remove the password while downloading it as a Microsoft Excel file. Follow the steps given below to open your own Excel file.

Step 1: Import Password Protected Excel File

Firstly, you must import your password protected Excel file into Google Sheets to open the file. Go through the steps provided below to do that.

To start with, click on Blank to open a blank sheet in your Google Sheets.

Now, a blank sheet will open.
After that, click on File >> select Import.

Next, the Import file box will open.
Then, go to the Upload tab >> click on Select a file from your device to upload your Excel file.

Afterward, the File Upload box will appear.
Further, select your password protected Excel File. Here, we will select the previous password protected file which is named Opening Password Protected Excel File.
Finally, click on Open.

Now, the Import file box will open.
Next, you will see that, Replace spreadsheet has already been selected.
Lastly, click on Import data.

Thus, you can open a password protected Excel file in Google Sheets.

Step 2: Download the File as Microsoft Excel (.xlsx)

Now, we will show you how you can download this file from Google Sheets and further edit the dataset without inserting any password.

After uploading the file into Google Sheets, you can change the name of the file by just typing in the box. Here, we named the file as Mark Sheet.

After that, to save the file, click on File >> click on Download >> select Microsoft Excel (.xlsx).

Next, if you open this file, it will be on Protected View.
Then, click on Enable Editing to edit your dataset.

Finally, if you try to change any data in the dataset you will not face any difficulty as the password has been removed.
Here, we have changed the value of Cell D5 from 78 to 81 and it showed no error message.

Things to Remember

If you encrypt your file with a password like the following figure, then it may not work for you.

Download Practice Workbook

You can download the workbook to practice yourself.

Opening Password Protected Excel File.xlsx

Conclusion

So, in this article, we have shown you a step-by-step way to open a password protected Excel file in Google Sheets. I hope you found this article interesting and helpful. However, if something seems difficult to understand, please leave a comment. Additionally, please let us know if there are any more alternatives that we may have missed. Thank you!

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6 Comments

Stefan Nov 26, 2022 at 6:43 AM

Yeah, but no.
You cannot open password-protected Excel file in Google Spreadsheets.

“Couldn’t be opened for import. If the file is password protected, try removing the password.”
- Reply
  Tanjima Hossain Nov 27, 2022 at 10:41 AM
  
  Hello STEFAN,
  
  We can open our password-protected files using the stated procedures. I have tried this way right now, and it worked. I could also change the values of worksheets.
  But if you encrypt your file with a password like the following figure, then it may not work for you.
  
  Thank You
  Tanjima Hossain
BOB Dec 26, 2022 at 9:22 AM

Doesn’t work for me either. Upload failed. So did import. Sorry, can’t import this file right now. Try again later.
- Reply
  Tanjima Hossain Dec 27, 2022 at 10:13 AM
  
  Hello BOB,
  
  We can open our password-protected files using the stated procedures. I have tried this way right now, and it worked. I could also change the values of worksheets.
  But if you encrypt your file with a password like the following figure, then it may not work for you.
  
  Thank You
  Tanjima Hossain
A Feb 14, 2023 at 6:35 PM

This is not working for importing and opening password protected files
- Reply
  Shamima Sultana Feb 15, 2023 at 9:55 AM
  
  Hello, A!
  
  If your file is protected by using Encrypt with Password feature then it won’t work. We mentioned it in the Things to Remember section.
  
  Regards
  ExcelDemy